A love letter to the Armenian Youth Federation

I was twelve when my mom first dropped me off at my first AYF Badanegan (Juniors for you East Coasters) meeting. It was after school on a Friday. My mom took my brother Hovig and I to Ferrahian Armenian school in Los Angeles and our first meeting was a song practice for an upcoming song competition among all the badanegan chapters in Southern California. The two vareeches (adult leaders) were Ungerouhee Madlen Aslanian and Unger Mardig. I remember Unger Mardig telling my mom that this wasn’t the best meeting to start with, but my mom insisted. My brother and I got in place and began to mouth words to a song we didn’t know.

Much to your surprise we went back the following week to our next meeting. My mother took us every Friday to our meetings. We were in the Arapo Chapter (for kids ages 8-12 I believe.)

Ungerouhee Madlen and Unger Mardig were the first two authoritative figures (outside of my parents) that I actually liked. I did like some of my teachers (I was a major brat to some other teachers), but this relationship was different.

From my first days in AYF, I always felt that I was treated as an equal. At our weekly meetings we discussed the history of Armenia’s political struggles, the current situation in Armenia, which had just recently gained independence, and we learned about Kharabagh and our present day heroes fighting for our lands.

And AYF wasn’t all lectures all the time. As “badanees” (members) we were empowered to elect our own executive body, run meetings according to Robert’s parliamentary rules, choose a committee to serve on, come up with ideas for activities and events and actually implement those ideas. AYF was the first place I learned that I had a voice, a vote, as well as the power and the capability to do something positive for my community. This empowerment lighted a flame inside of me which later turned into an out of control wildfire of hope, activism and political passion that continues to this day.

In a sentence: AYF made me who I am today.

When a kid has leaders in his or her life who treat them equally, who listen and who take what the child has to say seriously, nothing but good will come from that child. The AYF and its leaders, in my case, Ungerouhee Madlen, Unger Mardig and later Ungerouhee Tamar Abkarian and Unger Raffi were those adults in my life. I gained the confidence in my beliefs and actions I never would have had, had I not been a member of the AYF.

Also the AYF was MY community. It was a space as a teenage and young adult where I could contribute to the preservation of our history and culture. It was a space where I was give the room and encouragement to grow. As I look back now I see the innumerable value in having a separate space in which to grow, separate from your family and school. An added bonus was that in that process I made lifelong friends, like Kris Demirjian and Dikran Aslanian, who I still love to this day: 17 years later! There are kids who were born that are almost adults now in the time that I have had these friends in my life! Since I’m giving shout outs, I can’t continue my love letter without also recognizing other trailblazers who helped me and many others grow like Tamar Abkarian, Ara Khatchadourian, Stepan Haytayan, Kevork Kawedjian and Aram Mozian to name just a few.

I am now 29 years old. I worked for a United States Congressman at age 23. I worked at the Capitol of the United States of America, steps from the Capitol dome you see on the Sunday morning political talk shows, and had occasion to advise the Congressman on a number of important issues. That’s huge!

When I first got to Washington DC, I already understood how things worked because I learned parliamentary procedures as a member of the AYF. For example during our meetings someone would say “Loosapanagan harts ooneem,” and in Congress they say “Point of clarification please.” I didn’t have to ask anyone what that meant when I first heard that said on the floor of the House of Representatives.

I just had my first child. He’s a boy and his name is Van. When Van was born I realized the only Armenian songs I knew were heghapoghagan songs. I sang them in hushed tones to get Van to sleep. I wonder if he understood the words “meyain zenkov gah hayots pergootiun” if he would have fallen asleep so soundly. Knowing these songs has led me to learn the stories for which these songs were written and will provide a vehicle for me to teach my son about these stories.

Being an AYF member instilled a pride, a faith and an understanding of our nation and our people that I turn to everyday to be me. I wanted to write this article to recognize the AYF’s contribution to my life, and I hope to encourage at least one young person to join. One thing I know for sure is that I can never give back to the community what I have gained from AYF…but I will spend the rest of my life trying.